


Something, Anything (aka 'Excuse Me, I Am What Now?!')

by EleanorKate



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Complete, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, It's all gone to Hell, Post-Season/Series 04, Spoiler Alert - Freeform, Spoilers, Warning for a few swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-24 18:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22022272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EleanorKate/pseuds/EleanorKate
Summary: Today, it felt as though something had changed deep with him, almost like that final cell that was clinging desperately onto hope had finally taken its last breath and expired.Post Season 4 - might have a few spoilers.   Sort of main character death in a round about kind of way...but not reallyCompleted Story that's going up in one go, also cross posted on FF.net.  There are a few swears so you've been warned...
Relationships: Chloe Decker & Lucifer Morningstar, Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar
Comments: 10
Kudos: 259





	Something, Anything (aka 'Excuse Me, I Am What Now?!')

Dad-above he was bored. Bored, bored, bored and bored all over again with this interminable nonsense that he was now surrounded with and, sitting up on the throne that oversaw his Kingdom, Lucifer was pleased he was out of sight so high above those endless winding corridors and cells. It pleased him as nobody could see him as he slumped, disinterested and disgruntled, in all that surrounded him. He might say he was pining but no the Devil didn't 'pine' for anyone or anything. How preposterous! How ridiculous!

Lucifer breathed in and out. Bugger me, oh yes he did pine. Endlessly.

"This is no good", he muttered to himself. "I'm bloody Satan! Lucifer! The ultimate punisher! The Devil! All of your worst nightmares rolled into one..!" He sighed as the exclamation was lost to the ash that clouded the stifling sky. Lucifer ran his palm over his face and slapped himself, the harsh noise reverberated through the darkened skies but it was unlikely anyone heard. He felt no pain, no sting on his skin to make him feel alive and that is what made it worse. It was becoming harder as each day rolled on to even think of anything but sleeping and...well, yes, his beautiful Detective with those blue-green eyes, that blonde hair and how she had slipped from his fingers.

"I love you"

"I love you"

"I love you"

"Please don't go"

He shut his eyes for a brief second, breathing in and out listening to her pleading voice as it whispered in his ear as though she was on his shoulder, trying to ignore that annoying persistant ache in his head that had been there since they said goodbye. He could not remember the feel of that kiss after all this time; the gentle softness of her skin as he caressed her face that had been replaced with the cold, harsh, rough feel of Hell on his hands. Lucifer shook his head quickly. This was no good at all. He can't be like this for millennia again. He had to do something, anything otherwise another day, another week, another decade, would be spent in endless, destructive misery. If one day he did return, once he had resolved this infernal mess, she might need him and need him whole. If that day ever came, if she was not already gone...

Straightening himself and sitting up, instead Lucifer listened in to the low hum of the noise of Hell as it bubbled below him in some vain attempt to, well, just do something, anything like he told himself. These taunting intrusive thoughts needed to stop too but he had no therapist in Hell. How he missed Dr Linda too and Maze and everyone. Lucifer squeezed his eyes together, determined not to yawn as he tried to push the sensation away but the preventative measure failed and pressing his palms to his face, his jaw almost dislocated with the strain. He would not have cared if it did but there was no relief from this tiredness, nay this exhaustion, to be had.

Carefully, from his place high above the thin layer of grey fog he looked below wondering if there was something, anything to amuse him or even vaguely interest him, down there at all. The lack of noise suggested there wasn't. Apart from the odd fractious scuffle amongst the demons there was little to entertain him it seemed and he felt his eyes close again. He was in no mood to visit the cells or indeed to eke out yet another vicious, violent or just plain funny punishment from his rapidly depleting level of enthusiasm. Even the cries from the tortured souls were quieter today, almost like they knew of this melancholy deep within him that scratched and clawed at his skin but never left a visible mark on his body and only scars inside his mind. Who was he kidding? Of course they knew as did practically every bloody demon as they were walking on eggshells over eggshells around him. Still though, if they were somehow even more frightened of him that normal, it saved the endless aggravation of having to discipline them too. Yeah, he was sick of this but, spine straight, it had to be done. There were higher purposes here, even if his heart was breaking even more. He just had to keep telling himself that and then it would be fine. Wouldn't it? Just keep saying it...

Lucifer filled his cheeks with air and blew out heavily, a cloud of icy breath lingering with the chill whistling wind and scraps of fragile ash as they fell onto his lap. With no care, he brushed the substance off his tailored trousers, shattering it into smaller pieces and flicking more off his shoe to the depths below. Surely there must be something, anything to amuse him somewhere in this place? Hell didn't have bars and clubs, no radio, no television and these last weeks he had scoured every inch of the place, trying to remember its nooks and crannies as it became all too familiar again. He didn't miss nicotine now he had not had a smoke for eons; couldn't remember the taste of whiskey and he could now describe himself as celibate, which unnerved him at best. He only wanted the Detective and that thought alone had repelled any temptations of the demons who used to try and take their place in his resting quarters. That and this black mood.

For days on end now he had pleaded with his brain to stop drifting to her and what she might be doing but no matter how hard he tried it was there constantly - how the urchin was getting on a school or how big Charlie would be now; if she had been shot this week. It was too painful, and so out of character that he might crave that domesticity, but today his limbs felt like lead as he slumped down on the throne again and they dragged his brain with them to his weak place. He was failing and falling in every aspect of his being. He should be something else, the fearsome, vengeful, terrifying deity, toying with and torturing his prey, but today, it felt as though something had altered deep with him, almost like that final cell that was clinging desperately onto hope had finally taken its last breath and expired.

Lucifer's eyes started to close again when all of a sudden; deep down below to his right there was a flash of blinding yellow light and a thudding echo of a noise as it bounced off the walls. It almost startled him out of some semblance of his ever unsatisfying sleep as his elbow slid off the arm of the throne in shock. Hell didn't see light like that and blinking, he could almost see stars; his eyes unused to such light. He knew he would not be able to cope with the glow of the sun now or even one of those strip lights in the precinct that gave the Detective headaches. Stop it. It was like a powerful flash of sheet lightening had struck deep down in the bowels of Hell and did he feel the ground shake with it, just for a few seconds? Lightening and earth tremors in Hell? Impossible. In an effort to engage with something, anything, though he flew down to investigate. Whatever it was, it was new and unexpected and deserving of his attention, particularly if it spelt t-r-o-u-b-l-e. Yet, what greeted him, was to astound him.

Quietly he landed, well away from the fuss that was unfolding at the top end of the corridor. There was a smell in the air that he could not place. It was different from the fire and brimstone; the old burning odour of ash and the dry air that would make anyone else cough up a lung. He breathed in. It was almost sweet like old fashioned candies that came in jars; like that first pleasureable mouthful of Macallan after a long day, like her kiss. Lucifer breathed again, banking the smell to memory and yes, there it was that tang of oak and spice as that whiskey slipped down his throat. Lucifer shook his head looking towards the large and noisy group of demons that had gathered and with the rumblings of what was definitely going to be another bloody argument, he knew he had to act on it. Whatever it was.

As he crept up on the maybe twenty deep group of demons, fingertips carefully brushing against the wall and wings folded firmly away, he could hear them conversing in whispered startled tones. The air of buzzing nervous excitement almost drew him in as he crept closer; his feet careful not to brush the ash on the floor and disturb them before he could fully ascertain what was going on. Whatever it was though the almost frantic urgency in their conversation was obvious and for the first time in a long time, Lucifer felt just the tiniest spark of interest in something, anything and he waited for the perfect time to strike.

He could pick out dull rumblings of discontent, the group split it seemed into two factions as a whispered argument unfolded in front of him.

None of them had seen he was standing less than six feet away, tucked behind a pillar and pressing every aspect of his being against the wall so he would not be seen. Now, the conversation unfolding in front of him was interesting to say the very least and he listened carefully as they all talked over each other in hushed tones.

"What is it?"

"Dunno..."

"Should we just move it?"

"Dunno..."

"If we do, what are we going to do with it dumbass?"

"Oh, master won't like this...master won't like this...he won't you know...not like this at all"

"It is alive?!"

"Think so..."

"It just fell, you say?"

"Yeah. Missed me by an inch".

"Don't exaggerate Keith. You were at the other end of the corridor."

"Master won't like this...he won't you know..."

"Master, he'll string us up by the balls when he sees it..."

"Or cut them off with a rusty knife".

"I want to keep my balls. I like them".

"Shut up".

Lucifer squinted into the group, trying to see what was lying on the floor but there were that many demon limbs he could not see to any great length. Curiousity, perhaps of our sheer boredom and a sense of impending dread, was leeching to the surface and that second he made a fatal error. Leaning forward slightly his shoulder brushed the wall. It was only a brief sound of material on stone but it was heard and silently Lucifer cursed himself.

"My Lord!" one of the demons, aptly named Trouble, exclaimed, seeing Lucifer out of the corner of his one working eye. "My Lord!" The entire group fell to its knees in front of him, stumbling into an anxiety filled pile of arms and legs over each other and whatever it was they were arguing over. Lucifer could see something between them that looked like dirty blackened material that might one day have been a shade of pale blue.

"Three!" he bellowed as the guilty looking demon raised his eyes to his Master, who had now stepped out into the corridor. Lucifer pulled his shoulders back, stretching out his height to its full advantage. "What is going on?!"

The small, portly demon stood up and moved slightly away from the crowd. "My Lord" he began, voice cracking with the level of fear that he always had of authority. "Thing fell from the sky..." He dare not say 'Heaven'. He had heard things about that place and none of them he liked. Saying the word 'Heaven' to this Master down here was a akin to immediate death with the mood the Master was these last decades.

"What?!" Lucifer asked, pushing aside two of the prostate demons but he still could not see. "What fell from that ...up there?!" Lucifer's heart began to race. Immediately he was suspicious, nervous and that impending dread he had felt just moments before began screaming at him from all corners. What was this now? He was sick of his father's games.

A number of the demons started looking sideways at each other. "Lady person, My Lord", Trouble offered, leaning forward as though he was imparting State Secrets. "Thing smells of human, Sir". The demon stepped back quickly, expecting to be struck about the head or be dragged screeching away to be tortured on his Master's whim. Instead he saw a look of something the demon could not describe.

"Lady?" Lucifer replied, his voice quiet and curious, all of a sudden slinging two more demons aside. It was not the reaction that the demons expected; almost as the colour drained from Lucifer's face. 'Please no', that inner voice began. 'Please don't be here. You don't belong'. His heart almost flew out of his mouth when he saw what – or rather who – was lying in a dusty heap on the hard, ashen floor and his suspicions were confirmed. "Three! Five! Come with me! The rest of you, you do not touch her and you do not say a word of her presence!" The group scattered to the walls as Lucifer strode forward pointing an angry finger at anyone who dared blink.

"Inder! Creed!" he continued, seeing two other demons jump from the back of the group. "Fetch Virtue and her sister! Tell them to come to my quarters immediately. Tell them to bring water and sufficient tools for a fire".

"My Lord". The two ran off, scrabbling through the ash; half falling over each other in their haste. Lucifer breathed to try to calm himself. Idiots; every single one an idiot.

The remainder of the demons watched as he slid his arms under Chloe's back and knees with such an ease and lifted her clear of the floor. "Do not touch her!" he screeched when he saw one of them pull at the blackened clothing she was wearing.

"Making Lady nice" Five replied meekly. Lucifer could see the demon had covered Chloe's exposed, bare legs.

The Devil closed his eyes and breathed, his mind racing. "Thank you Five" Lucifer responded, silently pleased and dare he say touched? "The rest of you disappear!" he bellowed, shifting Chloe again as apart from Three and Five, the group scattered, unsure how to take this development. Hell never saw the light that preceeded her fall. It must be a gift to them, must be. Maybe she had arrived at last...after all this time.

As Lucifer walked fast, the two demons almost had to run to keep up with him. He could see Chloe was breathing but she was out cold, hair dangling, one arm slung over her middle and the other swinging in mid air. Was she wearing a nightdress? Hospital gown? He had no time to take in the darker hair, nor the cut, or the grey of her pale skin. She had to be taken away from the eyes that had fallen upon her and as quickly as possible.

"My Lord?" Three asked, rapidly running out of breath as Lucifer shot around corners, down corridors and up stairs.

"Yes Three?" Lucifer replied, still striding ahead and not caring about anything more than the woman out cold in his arms.

"Can Three ask a question, my Lord?" the demon asked, breathing heavily as his feet scuffed through the ash. Master was a good foot taller, if not more, than the demon and had a stride length to match. The other demon was not faring well either in their hurried pursuit.

"If you must" Lucifer responded through gritted teeth, swinging around another corner to where he knew he could rest her down and think.

"Has our Queen come to us?" Three asked. His companion, running too so he could keep up grabbed the other demon's arm and squeezed hard. Five dare not speak. Hell had never had a Queen and whilst things had been said, maybe this was her? It was the only explanation for her light but Five knew the word should never have been mentioned; the question never asked.

Lucifer stopped dead and turned around, adjusting Chloe in his arms. "Repeat that to me...slowly!"

"Our Queen" Three replied, swallowing carefully as his Master's eyes bored into his lack of soul; still feeling the other demon's fingers painfully gripping his arm. "Like the stories, like they say she is going to come to us and make Master happy".

He received a heavy, weary sigh in response. "Those were fables of your ill-gotten youth, Three", Lucifer replied, turning around again. He did not deserve a Queen in this current state of mind and Chloe certainly did not deserve this for eternity. He stared down at her peaceful face. Did he just see her eyelids flicker?

Lucifer kicked at a door ahead of them, swinging it open to reveal a luxury that Hell only offered to him and him alone. He had willed it eons ago; a sample of his life on earth but it had lain cold and unloved all this time. A large canopied bed stood up on a platform, buried in plush cushions and velvets, cottons and silks. Reds, yellows, golds, black. It was, strictly speaking, his bed, but he never slept there. He much preferred the punishment of the uncomfortable throne with what little sleep he got. Carefully he placed Chloe on the bed, covering her over with a velvet blanket, but the demons halted by the door.

"Three...Five" Lucifer said quietly, not caring they had seen him so gentle with her. "You can come in here for now".

The two scuttled in, staring in awe at the opulent surroundings as Lucifer stood up and faced them. "Now, can your Master trust you?" The two nodded vehemently. "You two are to guard this room for every second of your unnatural lives. Understand me? If anyone, and I mean anyone comes in here apart from those I permit you are to lie about her presence. She is not here".

"My Lord"

"Wait outside until Virtue arrives", Lucifer ordered, seeing the two nod. "Let her and her sister in but nobody else. Always knock and wait until I confirm you can enter". He dismissed them with a wave of his hand and they shot away.

Lucifer waited until he was sure the two were outside, the door clicking shut. He did not lock it from the inside but turned towards the bed, stepping up the small platform it was on. He breathed out heavily as he regarded her, asleep or was she unconscious? He stepped up closer to the bed, sitting down carefully on its edge. Ever so gently he shifted a strand of hair that had fallen across her face but she did not move. Maybe he had imagined the flicker of her eyes, yet apart from the grey ash, he could not see a mark on her. Looking closer, he quickly realised what she was wearing – a hospital gown - and Lucifer sighed.

"What have you done, my darling, what have you done?"

He sat for a few of what were probably earth minutes as his mind raced. He had to be imagining her, dreaming in some sick joke to torment him even more. Fury and pain started to building inside him when there was a knock on the door that broke the destructive train of thought and silently he was pleased. "Enter!" The door slipped open and, with Five holding it, the two female demons entered. One carried water, the other with tools to ignite the fire in the room that had been laid to waste for decades. On her back was a bundle of fabrics.

"My Lord". They bowed in union, trying not to look at the figure with the gold tips in her hair on the bed.

"Sisters" Lucifer replied seeing the door shut quietly behind them. "Make up a fire, gently warm some water and leave me".

"My Lord" Virtue responded as the other scuttled off to the old fireplace on the other wall. "We, with your permission, brought clothing for the..." She was not sure how she should term it and whilst she had a certain level of superiority over the other demons, she still struggled with the Master's aura and not looking at the possible human in the bed.

"What have you heard?" he asked, the demon unsure how to read the look on his face.

"That a human fell from Heaven", she replied hesitantly. "But if you wish it Sir, I could ensure that rumour is firmly refuted".

Lucifer sighed and closed his eyes, biting his tongue at the use of the word 'heaven'. He had given Virtue and her sister the role of care givers in his society long ago so perhaps he was more lenient with them as a consequence. "I do not know where our visitor came from", he responded. In truth, he actually didn't. Unless Chloe had died and somehow, what? Been caught in the middle? Chosen to come here? "You have brought clothing?"

"Sir" Virtue replied, nodding her head. "Washing material and silks. If I may approach Sir?"

"You may" he responded, watching her carefully as she undid the bundle that had been on her back, revealing scraps of cloth and bolts of material that she laid out on a table at the foot of the bed. He did not know where they came from and did not want to know. The deep maroon silk caught his eye and she must have seen him looking.

"It is a colour that will suit Sir", Virtue offered, both hearing the fire crackle into life behind them, filling up one wall with light.

Lucifer nodded carefully. He had no strength to argue or scold her for stepping over the line. "Thank you" he replied. "Both of you. You may leave". The sisters nodded, curtseyed and left him, not daring to ask another question. Once sure the door was shut again, Lucifer closed his eyes listening out for the brief exchange of words outside of the four demons. Satisfied the two females were gone, he breathed heavily rubbing his fingers over his eyes, cheeks, jaw.

Finally he turned around to Chloe and for one of the first times in his life, he did not know what to do.

He wanted to lie down next to her but knew he could not. If he did he would certainly fall into a deep, deep slumber; able to lie peacefully with her by his side after so many decades of absence. Decades for him. He had no idea how long she had been on earth without him but Lucifer almost did not want to ask.

If she woke up too, for whatever reason, and he was asleep he dare not think what might happen or where she might wander to. A human such as her would be like fresh meat down here; like Daniel and the Lions. Oh, jeez, he even missed the Douche.

Shaking away the thought, Lucifer sat on the edge of the bed and regarded her. Her eyes were still closed and that flicker he had been sure he had seen before was no longer there. She did not look much older than when he left her, but only the tips of her hair were that golden blonde that he had left behind. Maybe it was months rather than years. Lucifer straightened his back and sighed, listening carefully for any movement outside the door and was pleased to find it quiet. As much as he wanted to touch her; he dare not should he sully her or if it was some kind of twisted head-fuck courtesy of dear old Dad and the moment his skin touched hers again she would disappear back into that light as though she had never been.

He wanted to lay down, close his eyes and just breathe her, hold her and wait until she woke. Wait until she woke? No, because the moment she opened those beautiful blue-green eyes he would have to find who brought her and send her back to where she belonged. Lucifer had mocked those 'heartbroken' souls before, never believing such a thing to be true, but his heart hurt and the pain deteriorated every day. Even now, that stabbing sensation had started in the centre of his chest; like a thousand tiny, but ever so sharp, knives plunging through skin and bone. He never had chest pains before Chloe.

Exhaustion suddenly overwhelmed him, but it was not the tiredness that might engulf you after a hard days work, it was that bone grinding, aching desire to just close his eyes and forget about the world. It was creeping up on him like a ghost and Lucifer felt himself starting to fall when there was a timid knock on the door. One last look at Chloe, and making sure she was not disturbed he got up. As long as she stayed asleep, he did not have to do anything; did not have to make decisions, so he stepped quietly over and opened the door.

"My Lord" Virtue whispered. Lucifer could see the two other demons standing stock still with their backs to him guarding the room, just like he asked. "I brought some fresh water...from the...from the place". She offered up a wooden canister filled to the brim, which Lucifer took and a smaller vessel that could act as a cup.

"Thank you Virtue", he replied. "You are good to me".

The demon looked shocked. "Thank you, I er... thank you my Lord". She paused. "If you wish for anything else My Lord my sister and I will be more than happy to assist". She curtseyed and rushed away in a confused muddle as Lucifer closed the door.

He took the vessels and placed them down on the table at the bottom of the bed, next to the materials and went back to his spot. The temptation to touch her was overwhelming and for the first time he seemed to notice her lip had been bleeding, just in the corner far away from him. Had it split? The blood looked fresh. He had she woken up whilst he was at the door? Lucifer carefully scanned her body. Her leg had moved he was sure of it; just at the knee but she had moved. Again, he was struck by an inability to think properly. His eyes gently tracked back to her face, all of a sudden seeing her jaw move and her top teeth biting at the crack in her bottom lip.

"No, no, no my darling" he pleaded, gently pressing where she was biting with the pad of his thumb, "don't do that. Stop it". His voice was quiet, but underneath the dark haze, she must have heard him as her jaw settled and Chloe seemed to rest again.

Lucifer breathed heavily, rubbing the slight stain of blood from his thumb as he settled down again for however long it may take. In truth though, perhaps she was closer the surface than he realised as underneath the blanket he saw her flex her ankles as a slight puff of air left her mouth. "Detec..." Lucifer stopped himself. "Chloe?" She was waking and how he was conflicted.

Her gritty eyes opened, blinking hastily as she recognised her name, trying to form words but her throat was sore and dry and Lucifer could see she was not focussing on anything, let alone him. "Water" he muttered to himself standing up and pouring perhaps a mouthful or two into the wooden cup that somehow Virtue had known to bring. Chloe felt a hand support her neck and the pleasurable hit of water coat her lips and tongue. She heard a voice ask her a question. "Can you sit up?" he started, still supporting her but the liquid was gone.

"Lucifer?" she croaked, blinking repeatedly, wondering through the intense fuzzy, cloudy feeling in her head if she was hearing things.

"Just me", Lucifer replied. Despite everything he wanted to say or do, he was still not convinced he was not dreaming that she was here with him, in Hell.

"It worked!" Chloe smiled, choking slightly from her dry throat as she just about managed to pull herself up to sitting against the plush scarlet headboard. Her speech was just slightly slurred.

"What worked?" Lucifer replied with more than a hint of dread in his voice, patting one of the pillows in some vain attempt to make her more comfortable.

Chloe looked at him, focussing finally and realisation washed its way across her face. "Oh dear" she responded, suddenly staring down at her own hands, her eyes finally adjusting to the darkness in the room, feeling the warmth of the fire that crackled and the velvet over her body. "It did work". This time her voice was far more serious as the reality of the situation washed over her. She was with him. In Hell.

"Tell me Detective" he asked, shifting closer to her. "Tell me what happened. What did what work?"

Chloe licked her lips, tasting the tang of blood on her lip, tongue gently rubbing over the split, swollen, skin. She could hear her own heart racing in her chest in sheer unadulterated panic at what she had done.

"I got shot" she started as he watched her move the blanket off herself and pulling up the hospital gown she was wearing, thinking she would find the wound on her leg, but found nothing but clear skin. "There" she said pointing at her thigh, wondering in some kind of daze why it was no longer there, rubbing over the perfect skin in such confusion.

She remembered every fine detail. Of Dan shouting at her to move; of the bullet ricocheting off that trash can and the blood...oh shit...the blood. Her grazed femoral artery pouring her life into the street, mixing with the puddle of muddy water she had fallen into; Dan's hands, jeans, shirt, covered in her blood as she floated high above them both, seeing him yelling for help and her own wide, panicking eyes as she realised all earthly things were seeping away from her.

Chloe swallowed, pushing the tightness in her chest away. "They put me out because of the blood loss and...I remember praying, asking, that I could see you while they were doing it; for them to go and get you. For Dan to go and find you but I think he thought I was delirious." Tears sprung to her eyes. "I saw myself..." Chloe cleared her throat, fighting back against the lump that had lodged itself there. "I saw myself flatline in the ambulance and I can remember seeing the machines but I was thinking about wanting to see you and next minute..."

"I don't understand it", Lucifer muttered he but saw Chloe look down. "Oh, Detective, there is more isn't here?" He knew that expression on her face and every inch of him was weighted with dread.

Chloe licked her lips, needing more of that precious water. It was just the perfect temperature, clean and refreshing. "I..." she started, wondering exactly how to frame this. "I think I felt one of your brothers carrying me, carrying me...to, well up there and I know I was fighting him as I didn't want to go". She looked down. If she was dying; if she had to leave Trix and her friends she wanted to be here. In Hell. With Lucifer. "I think I fought him so much that...well he dropped me..."

Lucifer snorted with laughter and shut his eyes. So that was the flash of light. She caused a tremor in Hell. Chloe Jane Decker caused an earthquake. How appropriate. "Well fuck me" he replied, shaking his head. "I would love to know which one that was". Father will be furious. "Seriously, Detective? Your soul was dropped by my..."

She nodded. "So I am here".

Lucifer shook his head and ran his palm over his mouth. If this was a game, it was a spectacular one and every tired cell in his brain sprang to attention. "You are here and those ingrates out there think you are present for me from my Father".

"Well I am, aren't I? One way or another" she smiled, sliding over to him finally realising she was lying on a bed. It must be his bed. Chloe rang a fingertip down his jaw and kissed the corner of his mouth. "I would admit I'm not very well gift-wrapped and the only ribbon I have for you to undo is this one..." She pulled gently at the tie of the hospital gown that was on her shoulder but didn't release it. The overwhelming relief at seeing him, desire at wanting him or whatever you wanted to call it smashed down the part of her that was screaming at her that she was in Hell. In Hell and her wish had been granted.

"Wait, wait..." he responding quickly as Chloe felt her wrist being taken gently. "You know I can't". He regarded her crestfallen face. This had to be some kind of trippy dream. Maybe he'd taken something; maybe he had finally lost his mind. "You cannot stay here. You are here because one of my idiot brothers dropped you. Not out of choice or any other reasoning. You aren't dead". Dream, game or not he would know by now if she was and she wasn't.

"I did ask to see you, Lucifer" she replied meekly, head bowed. He had released her wrist now and her fingertips were just gently touching as they sat together.

"I know you did and believe me if this is real I am grateful for it, but I don't trust many people Detective. Particularly those in my own family". She did not know she was a Miracle made for him quite yet but she had made it here. "So there must be a reason for it rather than my brother had a bit of an accident. More than just a wish". She had a child to be alive for; friends, a job. Lucifer closed his eyes. He was pleased to see her, of course he was, overjoyed in fact but she didn't belong here. He saw her eyes drop to the cup that was on the bed. "Do you want some more water?"

Chloe nodded as he got up again and brought the larger vessel with him. This time she was able to hold the cup herself and she took another mouthful. "This water..." she started. "It's so pure". It tasted like clouds, but she dare not vocalise it should he laugh.

"It was a spring I found, long ago" Lucifer explained, although he had not tasted the water for years. "Only a few share its location. The carers believe it to have healing properties. It was why it was brought to you".

Chloe smiled not entirely sure what to do with herself. She wanted to be here; wanted to be with him but all of sudden they ran out of words even though there was so much to say. They fell into an awkward silence; Chloe still spinning the cup around in her hands and the Devil himself suspicious, confused and fighting a paranoia that was snapping at his heels.

"There is warm water there", Lucifer suddenly began after too many moments of silence. "The carers; they will come when you wish to them to assist you with anything you desire. Virtue and her sister".

"Don't tell me", Chloe replied, a giggly curiosity setting in that she was actually here with the Devil himself. In Hell. "Chastity? Hope?"

She saw him shift uncomfortably on the bed. "Jane actually" Lucifer confessed feeling acutely embarrassed at her wide eyes on hearing what the Demon had been called. "I renamed her when I came back down here".

Chloe snorted with laughter and put her hand over her mouth. "Sorry, Lucifer".

"Its alright" he continued with a shrug. "I was going to call her Chloe but I realised that it would make matters even worse if I had to address somebody by your name day after day". He ducked his head; now quite ashamed that his brain had even taken him to that desperate point. "The demons don't mind. They have no concept of names or family if they have not seen the earthly plane. They will simply react to whatever you call them or what you tell them you are going to call them". Chloe did not flinch at a demon being renamed after her; she saw his sentiment in it after all and to be truthful, it was the last of the weirdness she needed to be concerned about in this way that her life had become these last few years. To clear his thoughts of those early days Lucifer just shook his head. "Either way they are discreet female demons and they will assist you with dressing and bathing."

"I don't need help", Chloe responded. This place sound medieval.

"Detec..." Lucifer started seeing the determined look on her face as she sat up straighter in his bed. "Chloe, if you are here as my guest the demons will expect to serve you. You are...I cannot say I have guests often but when I do my guests are royalty here". Did he want to go there with the fable that Three had decided to bring up? She shook her head, not accepting that as an explanation. "Chloe", he said again, resting his palms on her cheeks. "Here, whatever I say,whatever I ask for, it is granted to me without a single question. I have absolute power over every soul, demon, human...You can have what you want but you must not move from my side and do as I say." He gently pushed a wisp of hair from her face, hoping just this once she would put her stubbornness aside. "They will expect you to do as I desire. In private with me you may say or do as you wish but in the face of another presence down here, do as I say and go where I say".

She looked up at him, straight into an expression she had never seen on his face before. He was pleading with her. "I thought you were all about free will Lucifer" Chloe offered and she saw it stung. Immediately she regretted it, leaning into the warm embrace of his palms on her cheeks.

"I am and I know you don't like it but its for your own safety", he continued. She felt his thumb rub across her skin for a second before it slid away. "You...are not dead and human too. That's a wicked combination and..." Oh fuck it, just say it; it will be clearer then. "They think you are my Queen. That's why I am...that's why you must be protected". A second later he realised the enormity of what he had said.

His words slowly reveberated around her head. The Queen of Hell; the Queen of Demons. "Excuse me, I am what now?!" Chloe exclaimed; her brain scrambling around for a reasonable, logical explanation. "Lucifer? I don't ..." she continued indignently and trying to decipher what this all meant.

Lucifer breathed and steeled himself. "There is a story. A fable. You would call it a fairy tale if such things as fairies existed, that the Lord of Hell has a Queen and she will pass into Hell in a blaze of light. No ceremony and one day she will just arrive with no warning or sign. They have been waiting for a very, very long time Detective and they think your fall was...my Queen coming". The last few words were spoken with increasing hesitance as Lucifer saw realisation wash over her face.

"Well am I?"she questioned.

"What? The Queen of Hell?" he asked.

"Yeah" Chloe responded.

"I've no idea" Lucifer replied. "I'd admit you fit the story, but if I have a Queen, I do not know anything about it and do I really think she might arrive because one of stupid siblings lost his grip on her? I don't know Chloe. I mean, you..." he paused. "You are what I might like for a Queen, but you do not belong down here. Your soul is too pure, but for now though, for me... just tolerate it until I can find out what is going on". He was pleading with her again.

"Okaaaayyyy" Chloe replied, slowly and carefully, even though every nerve in her body was short circuiting. "I will, but not helping me dress or bathe".

"Very well" Lucifer responded "Except...The women will expect to help you dress at night. For me". He hoped she did not get his meaning. Dressing the Queen to grace the King's bed. "They will expect to prepare you for me".

"How archaic" Chloe muttered, pulling a face clear to him that she had understood every word. She sounded like she was a piece of meat being seasoned to be devoured. She had not realised she had slipped back in time as well as to Hell.

"This is Hell Detective. We have progressed but women here...it's still... Look let me help you up so you can wash and dress. This time only I will assist you". She eyed him suspiciously. "I have already seen you wet and naked Detective; its nothing new. Can you stand?"

Chloe tutted and slid off the bed only to fall almost face first into him. "I thought I could". She righted herself with a self conscious laugh, eyeing up the water that was simmering over the fire. "Do you not have a shower or bath?" Washing out of a tin bowl? Yes, she had somehow shifted herself back in time too. If she was the Queen, even if it was real, a dream or some strange anaesthetic induced fantasy, things were going to change around here.

Lucifer nodded. There were better facilities. "Through that door". He pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room to her left. "There is a bathroom, but Chloe", he started, taking hold of her arm as she steadied herself. "I don't use it. Its been lain to waste for years."

She knew he had done it to punish himself. No luxuries of earth, no pleasures, no reminders, no memories. "Lucifer. I will not have you punishing yourself unnecessarily and, well, if I am your 'Queen' I expect to be treated like one". She turned to face him." So, show me..."

Lucifer sighed and, helping her across the floor as she was still on wobbly legs, he pushed open the door, it letting out a squeal of protest at being disturbed after so long. What greeted her was not what she was expecting. "This isn't a bath Lucifer. It's a swimming pool! Albeit an empty one". The vast 'bath' was sunken into the floor; flanked with blue and white tiling and probably about six times the size as normal. There were steps running down into it and it was clear it had been undisturbed for a while if the layer of dusty ash under her bare feet was anything to go by.

"Detective close your eyes" Lucifer offered. "Close your eyes". She did so still feeling his presence behind her. He did not move and if anything he pressed closer to her. An arm went around her middle and held on tight for maybe only a few seconds. "Open them now". Chloe opened her eyes, the warmth of the now full steaming bath caressing her skin. The ash was gone and the tiles sparkled. "Do not say a word Detective. Bathe. Everything you need is there". Chloe regarded a basket filled with all her favourite products on the floor by their feet and a pile of fluffy white towels. "I will be outside the door. Just call when you need me".

"Lucifer? You can just...will things up?" she stuttered.

"Yes" he replied gravely as she felt a tentative kiss press to the back of her head. "I can't do it top side, but down here I can so if you wish to bathe in earthly luxury you can". Chloe nodded, still not sure and slowly taking it all in. In truth she felt rank. She needed to bathe, wash her hair and get rid of the smell of hospital disinfectant that clung to her skin. "Virtue and her sister will come to see you once you are dressed as they will expect to be introduced. Whatever you want, you ask it of them. The only thing I ask is that you tell me if you wish to leave these rooms and I will judge whether it is safe."

Chloe spun on her heels before he left, the message clear he was going to leave her alone. "Lucifer, you said I'm not dead. How do you know?" She saw Lucifer swallow. "Tell me how you know I'm not dead" she demanded. Her voice was not loud but it was determined.

"I..." He let out a puff of air. "I can... smell... if you are and you are not. Death-wise you a still fresh as a daisy", he responded, trying to joke and failing when he saw the look she gave him so he carried on. "When a soul is transferred here, to held here, I can sense what has sent them here whether its a disease, accident, fire, taking their own life so I can determine what happens to them. I can smell the fact the fact the body.."

"If its started decomposing?" she asked.

"In a way" Lucifer added.

"Oh" she replied, incredibly curious. "But I'm not..?"

"No" Lucifer responded. "I don't think you were meant to go and I don't know why a human has been allowed through when it was not your time which is why this is so bloody confusing. Do you remember anything about being taken? Any ideas of what my brother looked like?" He would love to know which one it was, even for his own satisfaction that they had possibly screwed up in the face of Dad.

Chloe shook her head, desperately searching her brain. "I think...I think...I mean he was huge, he could lift me like a feather but no..." He heard her gasp. "He looked like you". A flash of a memory pinged into her mind and left just as quickly. "I think for one second I thought you had come for me until I realised and then I started fighting him..."

"Michael then" Lucifer replied, bristling at the prospect that his twin had been anywhere near her.

"The one you...?" she asked. Chloe remembered enough from Rome and Kinley to know who Michael was.

"The very one" Lucifer responded. "He'd probably enjoyed it. Taking something I wanted from me because I could never see you again if you were up there. But I don't understand it. You were not ready to die so I don't understand why you were taken". Chloe felt his presence again behind her, his gentle breath moving through her hair and the warmth of his chest on her back. The bath looked so inviting so she undid the tie of the hospital gown at her shoulder and let it fall to the floor in a heap around her ankles. She did not turn back to look at him or touch him but he drifted his palms over her bare abdomen, keeping well away from anywhere that might prove fatal. From the handful of kisses they had had to her standing naked, again, in front of him but whatever this was, as it must be her imagination because it was too impossible to believe, she had him back at least for a while. She heard him breathing and Chloe's heart started racing as she felt him move back closer to her. Lucifer leant down and his presence, that strong, virile aura he gave off started to swallow her up. He leant closer to her ear, allowing his voice to drop an octave or two in the process.

"Get in this second or so help me, I'll push you in..."

All he heard was her giggle as she stepped down into the soothing water, keeping her back to him and sinking up to her neck. Lucifer breathed heavily and counted to ten.

The Detective was in Hell it seemed, she may be his Queen and yes, there it was just there that second, the Devil was well and truly fucked.

"Three! Five! What are you doing?"

Outside the demons heads shot up. "Helping Master" Three responded at the sight of thee much taller demon, one they thought was called Aman as he towered over them. "You know his Lordships quarters are out of bounds to only a select number. You know the punishment if you dare to disobey".

"Master..." Three blurted out, desperate to distract the other demon who was breathing far too close to his face. "Master asked us to stay here to guard this room and not let anyone in".

"Pardon?" Aman asked, leaning close and squinting at the pathetic creatures in front of him. "Guard the room for what?"

"His Mistress" Five interjected. "Our Queen has come at last".

"Master's getting pleasure off his Mistress! In his resting quarters!" Three giggled until it the pair of them realised that was the worst thing they could have said. Master said that they were to lie about her being here and the other demon, still leaning over the two shorter bodies was snarling at him.

"I have heard that story just these past minutes. We have no Queen you imbeciles and do not talk about our Lord in such a base manner. If we had a Queen she would have been here long before now! " The other demon spun on his heels and strode away as the two others swallowed carefully.

"Should we tell Master we said that?" Three asked nervously, pulling at the black robe he was wearing.

"Are you that empty headed, Three?" Five scolded, eyes fixed ahead of them down the corridor as Aman disappeared around a corner. "Just be quiet. Don't speak. Don't do anything!"

Back in the bathroom and unsure if he had locked her in for her own safety, Chloe wrapped herself a thick, plush towel. It was just like the ones she imagined he had in his bathroom at Lux. Her hair had almost dried already with the heat in the bathroom; the water never losing its temperature which was probably why her skin now resembled a prune with her luxuriating for longer than she normally would. Carefully, as she sat on the steps to the bath, Chloe picked through the products in the basket, finding at the bottom a pot of her favourite moisturiser. It was that expensive one that she used sparingly due to its sheer expense, but how on earth did Lucifer know about it? Chloe paused. Maybe he didn't. Maybe it was her own subconscious. She supposed that if this was a dream she may as well enjoy it so she spun open the lid and breathed in the scent of citrus as it filled her sinuses.

Just a little while later Chloe got up, feeling warm and less wrinkly, she finding the door open and she turned into the bedroom. Lucifer was sitting on a chair by the roaring fire. If the main door was opened, the chair would be behind it and Chloe hesitated before she spoke. The way he was sitting, slumped down, long legs stretched out and with a deep frown creasing his forehead made her hesitate. He looked powerful, magnificent with the glow of the fire silhouetting his body and oh dear...yes that too. Chloe breathed gently to calm that tickle in her chest and the need to just jump into his lap. Before she could speak he looked up.

"Hello" he smiled but his expression was still tight. "There is clothing there for you". Lucifer nodded towards the bed as she walked across, feeling for the first time the thick, plush carpet under her feet as she stood wiggling her toes, looking at the materials laid out on the covers.

"Really Lucifer?" She held up the bottom half of lacy underwear and saw him shrug.

"A Devil can try", he offered. His voice, whoever was free of his usual bright, bouncy, dirty expression at being faced with a black lace thong.

"Well I won't wear it" Chloe responded. It wasn't harsh. It had intended to be a statement that she was not going to parade around in skimpy under-things for his one pleasure but it spectacularly backfired the moment the words fell from her mouth.

His eyes widened and she saw a lascivious smile. "Now that would be even better" he responded, standing up at last and walking across to her, the scrap of lace still dangling from her index finger. "I was joking Detective, if you want granny pants I can get you granny pants but if I am going conjure up anything I am conjuring something good to look at".

Chloe huffed but under the towel put the knickers and bra on as he started stalking around the room, shifting ornaments. This underwear was better than wandering about without. Still with the towel around her the maroon dress went over her head before letting the towel drop to be kicked to one side. The satin was heavy, floor length and it fitted perfectly without clinging to her too much. A coat, also maroon with a heavy gold and black brocade from the shoulders to the floor, also lay on the bed. "This is beautiful Lucifer" she breathed running a fingertip over the decoration on the arm.

"It is intended to be", he replied, having now closed the bathroom door.

"I almost don't want wear it" Chloe responded wistfully. "It'll spoil".

"You may wear if you wish, but you do not have least not in this room. I'd suggest you do if we go out there" Lucifer continued.

Chloe smiled as he stood by her side. "So I am going to be shown around?" She was keen, maybe from naivety or something similar to that, to explore his home, well explore this place at any rate.

"Let me consider it" he sighed, going back across to the chair he had been haunting ever since she slipped into the bath. He sat back down to his previous position and regarded her as she turned to face him. He watched carefully as she straightened her shoulders and walked across to him. The satin floated against her skin as she walked and she came to stand between his outstretched legs.

"So do I meet Virtue and Jane now?" she asked, hands clasped in front of her and anticipatory.

"If you wish" Lucifer responding, finally straightening up and standing up again. "I will ask the guards to collect them".

"Guards?" Chloe replied unable to keep the surprise from her voice. "Do I need guards?" He was already over at the door, opening it and speaking in a low voice. The two demons wandered in and on seeing Chloe, the pair fell to their knees.

"My Lady"

"My Lady"

Lucifer was not sure how to term her. Should he call her Detective? Chloe? Darling? He settled for nothing. "These are Five and Three, the guards. You pair, you may stand up..."

Chloe just looked at them and to Lucifer with an eyebrow raised. "Named after numbers?" she whispered, her brain ticking over and if she was not careful it may shortly implode. Nobody should be bowing before her. Nobody at all.

"Maze thought it amusing to give them names that equalled their IQ", Lucifer explained. The smaller demon started laughing even though he still had his eyes on the floor. A uh-uh-uh-uh noise that set Lucifer's teeth on edge. "Three stop that, you sound demented". The demon muttered and apology quickly, ducking his head even further.

"Don't be cruel, Lucifer" Chloe purred. "I think you three are definitely a ten".

The demon grinned, his eyes brightening at Chloe as he looked up to her, almost forgetting himself. "Than' you m'lady. My Lord, our Queen staying? Three would like m'lady to stay. She pretty and nice to Three". He saw Lucifer nod carefully even though the Devil's gaze was cold and hard. He wanted her here; but she could not stay and that was the worst possible aspect of it all.

"Can we assist in any way, my Lord?" Five asked, keen to help their guest and divert the anger that he had started to see in the devil's eyes at this insubordination.

"Could you arrange for the carers to return and ask them to bring provisions for us?" Lucifer asked as Three leant into Chloe, grinning at her, totally ignoring where the question had come from. "Yes m'lady". Lucifer saw Chloe's hand twitch over the demon's shoulder but when she saw the look on the Devil's face, she almost took a step back herself out of sudden fear.

"If..." Lucifer started. "If your Queen has so sufficiently lost her mind that she wishes to engage in physical contact with you Three, I will allow it".

The demon smiled like an awkward Cheshire cat but before anybody else could move Five dragged his sidekick out of the room.

"He was sweet" Chloe responded, going to stand by the fire as she was chilly. Chilly in Hell?!

"They are not sweet Chloe" Lucifer replied, standing behind her and running his palms over her arms feeling the goosebumps there and rubbing them away. "They are demons; albeit not ones that are very bright so it is rather like managing a nursery school, I would admit but if anyone told that pair a secret or something to be kept from me, they would tell me thirty seconds later. I have no doubt about that". There was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Lucifer bellowed.

From behind the door the two women appeared, glancing at Chloe and they immediately fell to their knees in reverance. Behind them Five was holding a silver tray and he slipped into the room before putting it down and departing just as quickly.

"Get up" Lucifer responded, his voice harsh. Chloe herself had no idea what she should be doing so she simply hovered. "Virtue, Jane, you will greet your Queen". The pair bobbed a curtsey towards Chloe who simply smiled at them, hoping they may like her if nothing else. "You will attend to whatever your Queen wishes you to do"

"My lord, my lady" the pair responded. Chloe regarded them as Lucifer sat in the chair by the fire again but even Chloe was slightly nervous of that look he had on his face as he stared at anywhere but them. This was too much. She did not need servants.

Jane was the first to step forward. "My lady, would you care for me to braid your hair?" The demon regarded the visitors wavy locks as they cascaded over her shoulders, still a little damp from the bath. She could see that Jane had ribbons and jewels in her hands. Chloe nodded quickly responding before she could really think. Apart from Trixie's attempts at plaits nobody had braided her hair since she was a kid. The two demons busied themselves around them, but even Chloe noticed that they were keeping a wide berth of Lucifer. He was stock still in the chair all though their attentions to her, staring at her, watching her as they worked in silence. Even when she looked to him he was looking at her so intensely that, whilst it did not feel too uncomfortable, it felt as though he was examining ever inch of her skin, boring deep into her soul.

Her hair complete in elaborate twists and turns, gently persuaded into order the two demons stood in front of Chloe expecting another order. Instead she simply dismissed them with a smile and a 'thank you' and the two demons, even more confused now, left the room. She needed to speak to Lucifer rather than sit here with jewels and ribbons in her hair.

Chloe stood up and walked across to him. "Might I sit down?" she asked, receiving a vague nod of the head. She stepped forward and sat on his left thigh, wrapping her arms around his neck but he did not react to her proximity. "Lucifer? Put your arms around me" she whispered in his ear, placing a gentle kiss on his temple. "If I am your Queen like they say, you are allowed to touch". Her voice was barely a whisper, breathe warm on his skin. "If you want to kiss me or come to bed with me, you are allowed to too".

"I don't expect that of you" he replied flatly. "We have a few miles to cover before that occurs".

Chloe closed her eyes. This was not the Lucifer she knew, surely? If she had said that to him before, he would have grabbed her immediately, or was she judging him? "Lucifer, I don't know why I am here, or if this is just in our heads but can we not cherish this for the fact that we are together?" Don't you want to?

He let out a sharp breath from his nose. "We...there is food and wine there. You can eat and drink and..."

"You aren't?" Chloe asked, pressing another gentle kiss to his temple, hoping her attentions might break through his meloncholy.

"I have not tasted food in...well, a long time. I take no pleasure from it any more", he responded, still not looking her in the eyes.

"Well its time you did!" she exclaimed, standing up she went to the tray, regarding the carafe of what looked like a rich red wine but instead, she took up a handful of fresh green grapes and sat on his knee again. "I know I can't tempt you with an apple, but would one of these do?" She took a grape and ran it across his lip, feeling strangely confident in her own sexuality for a change.

She must be dreaming. Unconscious Chloe was far less uptight it seemed, but he did not open his mouth nor make attempt to take the grape from her in any form.

Chloe sighed and ate it herself as she could see she was getting nowhere. No amount of teasing was breaking him out from underneath his black mood. She wasn't about to jump him or push him, but it might be quite nice if he could just well...not sit there like a well sculpted marble statue. This was a woman who had, the moment she separated from Dan, put her libido in a cage and doubled locked it but it wanted out now. Marcus was safe, and yeah, it had been alright with him but Lucifer? That was a different level and it was doing nothing for her ego that he failed to respond.

She ate another grape. "Lucifer" Chloe started. "Can you at least come and lie down with me?" She had no idea of what time of day it was, no idea of what year he was living in, no idea if this was anything more than her brain acting out her wildest fantasy, but something inside her did not care. It was either the bed, his knee or sit on the floor and a small fraction of her was seriously considering just leaving him there for the night, evening, day, whatever, but she was too stubborn for that.

"No, Chloe" he replied, lifting her up to standing before he got up and stalked across to the other side of the room leaving her by the fire. She threw herself down into the chair he had just vacated, overcome suddenly with a tiredness and frustration she had not felt in a while. Not felt since those early weeks when he left.

"Why not? I am offering myself up on a plate to you, Lucifer. No ties, no promises, no expectations". She threw another grape into her mouth, letting it burst against her tongue. "I fucked up royally Lucifer, we both know I did. I want to make it up to you and try and make us both happy in the process". She was not going to plead with him but equally she was not sitting here staring at a brick wall either.

Lucifer was standing facing the said wall; his back to her and head bowed. "Chloe..." he started, his voice so much quieter than normal. "There are expectations".

"There are?" she asked, surprised and curious, slipping another grape into her mouth. His tone was very different to hers in its gravity and mentally, it made her sit up.

"I am their King and they have expectations of me", he replied. This was so difficult; so complex.

"So do I" she responded. "I have this expectation that very shortly I am going come". It was not seductive by any means and she was very matter of fact about the thing. It had the desired effect of getting his attention though.

"You woman, are worse than my own torture" he muttered, shaking his head before shoving his hands into the pockets of the black trousers he was wearing and turning back to her; still leaving a few safe feet distance across the floor between them. "They think you are my Queen. They think you fell from Heaven rather than just my idiot brother dropping you. They think you are a gift to me and them from my Father".

"I know" Chloe started, voice calm and patient. "But you have told me that countless times already, Lucifer, and it doesn't take us very much further. Can you not just say, no, sorry, she's not? They would have to believe you and just accept it".

"Because I don't know if you are or if you aren't, you might be but I can't just ask, can I?" he exclaimed, trying to keep control but he knew he was failing. "By the way, Dad, did you just supply my Queen by Angel FedEx?! She was dropped a bit on the path on delivery, and she wasn't signed for, but I don't think anything got broken?!" He was frustrated and furious, brain cells ticking in overtime as sarcasm dripped from his mouth. Chloe swallowed. Standing up to him might just aggravate him so she breathed carefully as he carried on. "I don't trust this, Chloe. I can't just walk out there and say sorry, no, your Queen hasn't arrived, that lady is just someone that dropped by for a visit. They believe you are their Queen and you very well might be and I can't make an almighty mess of this. My authority must not be questioned here...I can't be seen to be weak or make a mistake."

"And I am prepared to be your Queen if you want me to Lucifer. Does it matter if I wasn't put in the right post box? P O Box Hell instead of Heaven?" She stood up and walked towards him, resting her palms on his shoulders. Could she see a distant red rumbling in his eyes? "I told you. I don't want to be in Heaven. I fought your brother because I didn't want to go".

"Because you wanted to be with me in this...shit heap" he replied, throwing both arms out to his sides; walking away again.

"Yeah" she replied simply, wishing he would just stay in one place for five minutes. Maybe next time he sits down somewhere she should sit on him again and make sure he didn't move!

Lucifer let out a long breath. "Do you understand what you are entering into? You are too precious for this Detective".

"No" Chloe replied, "and as I don't know, please explain it to me so I can make an informed decision".

He sighed. She was in cop mode and Lucifer sat down with a thump on the bed. "If you are my Queen, you will rule beside me for eternity..."

"That doesn't sound so bad" Chloe responded, still carrying one of those blessed grapes in her hands as she stood in front of him, not sitting down quite yet as being on that bed might just have to many connotations if he was still wound up and, underneath the bravado, there was a nagging part of her that might not be too happy to cope with the rejection.

"You will be expected to oversee Hell with me, support me in everything I do, the plans I have to put in place, the punishments, the torture, the admin...", Lucifer offered. He knew Detective Decker was as strong as an ox, but she also had a tender heart under there. He had grave doubts she would cope with seeing the depths of the depravity that went on under his rule in Hell; just how deep into his devilish personality (to put it mildly) that she could take before wanting to flee or starting hating him or even worse, start being scared of him again.

"I'm a cop Lucifer. I know all about punishments and admin". She also wasn't soft. Maze was his torturer and Chloe had seen enough of that to know that it wasn't just a slap on the wrist that was dealt out down here.

He laughed briefly and shook his head. "The demons will revere you as the one who will make the Devil happy, content and that's going to be a hard job Chloe as long as I am down here as...as I don't want to live like this and you will have to cope with that and knowing what you left behind for me". He let out a long, heavy breath. "This would be so much easier if we were on earth".

"Well", she started. "Let me try. You know me Lucifer. We were a team before, we can be a team again".

"What about earth? What about your offspring? You have a little girl who will miss her Mum if I keep you here, if I don't send you back" he replied, seeing realisation wash over her face.

"Trix..." Chloe started, feeling a lump rise in her throat, hands starting to twist around each other. "I can't leave her can I?"

"No, you can't. Chloe you are not dead. Michael took you and I cannot for one minute believe that Father somehow authorised him to do it. It should have been Azrael, my sister. Rae-Rae is the soul collector and nobody encroaches on what she does. She'll probably be furious and be trying to find your lost soul after she has had Michael for breakfast". He steeled himself. "And anyway, the demons will expect a ceremony to seal our union and the future of Hell if you stay much longer".

Chloe looked at him like he had three heads. Maybe she was still delirious from the fall. Did she bang her head when she fell? She wasn't bleeding from anywhere and she didn't have a headache, Chloe at least knew that. "Ceremony?" Oh shit. Why didn't she think of that? King and Queen. He was talking about marriage after all. Mr & Mrs Morningstar. Mrs Chloe Jane Morningstar or would she still be Decker or Decker-Morningstar? Oh, this was just...

She shook her heard amongst all of these random thoughts, particularly as there were more important things to think about. "I can't leave my baby behind Lucifer" Chloe cried. For the first time in a long time, she hoped this was a trippy dream under anaesthesia and not reality as the prospect of leaving Trix, even with her Dad to look after her was overwhelming. "But I don't want to leave you behind either". She dare not ask if he could abandon Hell again and come back to earth. They could be battling his family and demons in LA for a long time to come if that was the case and feeling constantly threatened that that one day would be the last again.

"I could tell them that you are not staying" Lucifer replied. "But..." He straightened his shoulders; determined he would be honest with her. "I am selfish, you know that. I have no desire to tell them you are nto staying. I would like there to be a ceremony".

Chloe giggled in shock, pressing her hand to her mouth as she realised how inappropriate her reaction was. "Are you asking me to marry you?"

"Well yes I suppose I am in a round about way but you don't have to" Lucifer responded. "I mean it's not some kind of all guns blazing, bells and whistles kind of event in Hell. It's a simple joining of hands; a tying of hands. The concept of a marriage as you know it; it does not exist here. We don't know that...well that level of happiness". He did not get an answer from her. Even in her enthusiasm for finding a path through this, jumping into a marriage (even a Hell one) was not on her primary agenda.

"Can you speak to Rae-Rae?" Chloe asked. She desperately wanted to be with him but could not, absolutely could not leave her child behind. Chloe could not deal with the guilt of a barely twelve year old losing her mother particularly when that mother seemed to have a choice in these things.

"I can try, but I can't say how long it might be before I could" he responded, knowing it would be a rare event that one of his siblings might visit. "Time moves differently do here. Slower and none of my siblings actually like this place. You heard enough from Amenediel about how much he 'enjoyed' having to come down here".

He could see her brain was ticking over something. "So if I am say unconscious for a week up her how long it is down here?" Chloe asked.

"A year – give or take".

"And if my soul is here, I can't wake up up there" Chloe replied, seeing him shake his head in the negative. "So I can be your Queen, we can be Hell-married for appearances sake, we can school some demons and you can find out what's actually happening without losing me too much time up there".

He frowned and got up again, back to the chair by the fire. "Is it that simple?" Lucifer asked, slumped down again with long legs stretched out over the floor.

"It can be as simple or as complicated as we can make it" Chloe replied, following him and tapping him on the knee so he could straighten up and she could sit down on his thigh again. "We have far more precious time down here, so let us make the most of it. I mean, why not?"

"After the ceremony, they will expect you and me...well..." he was gesturing wildly between their bodies and, surprisingly for him, he was finding it difficult to explain what he meant, but Chloe had caught on anyway and pushed away a smile. "Now you are here, they will expect you and me to..."

Chloe laughed. "I cannot believe the Lucifer Morningstar I know is struggling using the word sex. That is usually how marriages are consummated or at least it is in Los Angeles". She brushed her finger tips over his temple; his jaw still clenched tight.

"You and I haven't even managed to have a proper date yet let alone that" Lucifer responded. No matter how much he wanted her, if they were topside, he would have liked to take his time. "You know that one date that actually lasts without interruption from phone calls, cases or stewardesses". She flinched at the memory of Jana. "You are far, far more that just a sexual encounter. You should know that by now. After all this time you should know that by now". His eyes were boring into her soul and Chloe's heart skipped a beat, but in good way.

"We have a dinner date" Chloe offered, waving that last grape that she had been carrying around for far too long in his face. "We can start there. I don't have my cell phone on me...and believe me I am not fussy that we aren't in some fancy restaurant" she smiled.

"Fucking hell" Lucifer breathed.

"How apt" Chloe grinned, running the fruit along his bottom lip again, gently pushing it against the barrier of his teeth with her thumb. This time he opened his mouth and took it from her, even if he was a little reluctant still. It was the first fruit he had tasted in such a long time, even if it was a little warm from being womanhandled. He pressed a kiss to the bare skin on her upper arm in thanks - for the food and her understanding. Chloe got up and moved towards pouring them a glass of wine each before bringing it over and resuming her place on his knee. She took a sip. "This is..." she began, pulling a face.

"Horrific, yes I know. I do miss a decent Rioja" Lucifer smiled.

"It's not that bad, Lucifer, but yes, it could be better". This was a woman that bought her liquor from Target after all so she was hardly a connoisseur of fine wines or anything culinary for that matter. She took another sip, wondering perhaps if tasted less, well ashy and dry, second time around. It didn't but perched on his knee with food and drink at hand and a fire warming her back, right now Chloe did not particularly care.

By the time she had nearly reached the bottom of her glass and they had consumed between them a few more grapes and orange slices, she was still on his knee as his lips gently pulled on the sensitive skin of her neck, listening to her inhale-exhale, inhale-exhale as he breathed in the scent of home.

"Luce?" He felt a push on his shoulder.

"Yes, darling?" he replied, voice muffled by her shoulder.

Chloe moved his chin back so he could separate from her and she missed him immediately. "I need to put this glass down otherwise it'll end up on my lap or down your shirt".

"Ah okay" Lucifer responded, seeing the few mouthfuls of wine in the bottom of the glass as she swirled it around.

Chloe lent down and put the glass on the floor before she sat up straight again, his arms around her waist. She tapped her neck again and she heard a genuine laugh from him before his lips made it to her skin again, the warmth of his breath causing her to shift on his lap, crossing one leg over the other to try and quell the sensation his attention was causing. He was so twitchy, flaky over her rather unexpected arrival, so she was expecting him to stop any second. She felt his teeth lift the strap of her dress, pulling it down over her shoulder as his grip around her waist tightened.

Silent expletives popped into her head as she felt the kisses trail from her collarbone to the swell of her partly exposed chest, dotting their way to her breastbone. It was not what she expecting. He was still tentative though. "Lucifer?" she breathed, hearing a 'hmmm?' in response as lips found the base of her throat, a thumb rubbing on her knee.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "I mean really alright". She had to be sure before they made it to the bed.

Lucifer closed his eyes, face pushed into the warmth of her chest. "You know I'm not, Detective" he sighed. "You know I'm not".

Chloe just nodded as he raised his head again. She leant to kiss the corner of his mouth; an intimate gesture but one that she hoped conveyed understanding. She could feel he was tense just from the way he was sitting. "If you don't want to, just say so". She could not force him after all. If the boot was on the other foot, she would not want to be pushed into sleeping with him either. Just because she was a woman, it did not mean persuasion of this nature was right.

"I do" he replied, "believe me Detective, I want this, but I have to know if you are real. I don't want this to just be a dream or somebody is playing a game with me. I don't want this to be a game".

"I can't do anything about that" she responded, releasing her grip on his shoulders. If they were going to do that, she didn't want to do that this way. She wanted his heart, soul and all the enthusiasm that an earth-bound Lucifer Morningstar had for the pleasures of the flesh. "Will you show me around instead?" If her soul was in Hell, and she was right that she was not going to wake up on Earth, they had all the time in the world it seemed, even if her body was objecting to what her mouth was saying. She saw a flash of warning in his eyes until Lucifer suddenly remembered something that would kill two birds with one very subtle stone. Chloe found herself being lifted up to find herself standing again and he pressed a finger to his lips to silence any comments she was just about to make. He crept over and locked the main door, pocketing the key and taking her hand towards a wall on their collective left; Chloe putting her dress strap back to where it was decent. She did not see the outline of the door frame in the wall until it popped open with a low thud it was that well hidden.

"How fit are you Detective?" he asked, gesturing at the thin staircase.

"I've just been shot", she replied, placing a hand on the wall and looking up. The narrow black stone staircase wound up and up and up and up. "Let's see, shall we?"

By the time they made it to the top of the dizzying, winding staircase Chloe was expecting to be out of breath, expecting her legs to be like jelly, her muscles burning like they were on fire but she felt perfectly fine; maybe a little out of breath but certainly not feeling the long trek. It wasn't like she had just walked up several hundred feet. In front of her Lucifer pushed open a door to a single round room on top of the vast tower staircase. It was made of the same black stone as the staircase and the room downstairs, but there was nothing in it. Not a chair, not a table, not even a rug or carpet. There was one tall window to Chloe's left that allowed her a view of the passageways and Hell below her.

"I should be able to speak to Rae Rae from here. She tolerates Hell but the higher up I am the less she will have to, you know, fly down" he explained. That was the first stone; he could get Azrael here with the minimum of fuss and for the second, Chloe could see Hell without actually having to walk within it. She might be their Queen- possibly, maybe - but he had no idea how the wider group of demons may react towards her. Chloe nodded and curiosity peaking she went towards the open window, resting a hand on the dusty wall as she peered out. They were too far up to be seen and there was no light to tell the residents they were there. It reminded her of a medieval princesses' tower from these stories she used to tell Trixie, the captured soul looking down on the village below as she waited for her Prince. "So is this Hell?" she asked, eyes darting all over the corridors, the occasional light and the low buzz of daily noise. They were above the thin layer of ash and Chloe watched as it fluttered past the window, reaching out to grasp a large flake as it floated past. She did not think to ask if it was dangerous to touch, but as she brought her arm back towards her body, the paper thin ash simply disintegrated between her fingers.

"Yes my darling, this is Hell" Lucifer replied, standing very close behind her so he could see out of the window too. His palms rested on her bare shoulders, thumbs rubbing on the still tight muscles of her neck. Her stress levels clearly hadn't changed if the solidity he found was still there; even in her quasi-death. "This is its highest point. You can see it, without having to be in it" he replied, hoping it might pacify her and stem her curiosity. "Over there" Lucifer began again, pointing far to the right, "over there, are the Plains. They are somewhat desolate but I find them peaceful, a good place to think. On the other side of that, you won't be able to see it, but there is the Dark Lake. It is what it says it is". He saw her nod as she stood slightly on tip toes to strain to see. "If you look there" he said pointing almost directly in front of them "that is my throne". Chloe could see a grey column with, she assumed, a seat on it but it was too far away for her to tell.

"Don't you have...?" she started confused at what she was being shown. "I thought you might have a proper throne, but just that pile of stone?" Maybe she had been watching too many fairytales with Trixie. The first thing that had come to her mind when she saw this tower was the Brothers Grimm after all.

"There is a throne room, but I don't allow myself luxuries". He had willed that years ago too and it was just as luxurious as the room downstairs, perhaps even a little more with its solid gold throne high on a pedastel. "Do you see that roof just at the base of that column?" She nodded. "It's there". Locked up.

"You are the king Lucifer" Chloe responded, half turning to look him in the eye. "You should be in there".

"In name I am King..." he started. "I have rather passed on my day to day duties to my generals and some more senior demons. They are coping well and I have no need for it".

Chloe sighed and turned properly so she was sitting on the window ledge, Hell to her back. "Let me help you. I mean, I don't know what I can do to help you" she laughed, "but I want to do it whatever it is you have to do".

"Let me see if I can speak to Rae Rae. I want to find what is going on before we make any decision at all. Stay there and do not move. Whatever she does or says do not move". He pressed both palms to her shoulders, almost to stick her into place. He did not know who to trust. Without a further word or touch, Lucifer stepped into the middle of the tower room, his back to her as Chloe stayed perched on the ledge. She wished she had brought the ornate coat with her as the cool air caressed her back and ruffled her neatly styled hair. It gave her goosebumps.

Lucifer stood; she could see him breathing in and out carefully as he tried to communicate with his sister. Chloe was concentrating on him so hard that she did not see a figure materialise in front of him until he raised his head and spoke in a language she did not understand. The conversation proceeded for a few sentences when all of a sudden Lucifer flipped into English. Just from the way his shoulders almost widened, as he stretched his spine, Chloe could tell he was angry.

"What do you mean you don't know?" he spat, enunciating every single syllable.

"Just that. I don't know, brother" Azrael replied, casting a quick glance at Chloe who was now rubbing her arms to keep herself warm and fighting off the butterflies that suddenly appeared in her stomach . "All I do know is Michael took her soul. He had to confess his theft to Father when the rumours flew around the Silver City of a missing soul that had not arrived yet equally was not due. He refuses to say why he did it".

"Rae!" Lucifer exclaimed, starting to pace around the room allowing his sister to get a better look at the human. "He won't even confess to Daddy Dearest why he took the Detective from earth? Do you really expect me to believe that?!"

"No" Azrael replied, "I don't expect you to Luci, but is the truth of the situation". Lucifer did not know what to think, but Chloe saw the other angel's gaze arrive onto her."Chloe..." Azrael began. The Detective's head snapped up. "What I do know is that your soul...it is not ready to go and meet my Father. It still has a purpose on Earth". The Angel saw the Detective nod carefully at this news. Chloe had a thousand questions but was not sure how to ask them with Lucifer now prowling like a caged panther around in a circle in this enclosed room.

"How..." Chloe asked, hesitating before she decided to dive in. "How close was I to dying?" She needed to know.

"Chloe..." Lucifer warned finally turning around to face both women.

"No Lucifer" Chloe responded, fixing him with a glare he had not seen in a while and it made his heart wish for those old times in the precinct or at a crime scene. "I want to know. How close was I to dying?" she repeated.

"It was the way that Daniel would be with you, in easy reach of you", Azrael responded. "Daniel's purpose that day was to save you. It was the way of Father that Daniel act in the way he did. It was a lesson for him and..well, until our brother intervened and changed the fates". Chloe put her hand to her mouth to stop herself crying. Dan had saved her. Azrael turned to face her brother. "Lucifer I have no hold over her soul and I will not for a long time yet. I cannot send her back nor can I take her".

"So she is what?" Lucifer asked, stepping over to them both. "Out of your jurisdiction?" He knew then it would only be for his Father to intervene.

"Bluntly brother,yes" Azrael replied turning to Chloe again. "We have heard of you before, Chloe. Father told us of you..." Rae Rae put her arms around Chloe's shoulders. "I never expected to meet you quite yet, but I am glad I did. You are his Queen, in this Hell plain or other. You are tied regardless. Please take care of my brother". Chloe was shocked at the affection shown to her as Azrael turned back to Lucifer. "I will endeavour brother. I will return when I have news. Father has been generous to you. Think on it". With that she was gone.

"What did she mean?" Chloe asked, standing up to face the confused and brewing Devil. "He's been generous?" He started to call her by her ever present nickname and she knew he was trying to wheedle his way out of it. "No you tell me, Lucifer."

Lucifer's shoulders dropped,wanting to hold her close but he could not read the look in her eyes. "Father...he created you. He sent Amenediel to give a blessing to a childless barren woman so a Miracle would be born and that Miracle would be so pure a soul that she would redeem his son, or show his son how to redeem himself". He paused wondering whether to at least try and hold her. He chose not to. "Me. I'm that son".

Chloe's eyebrows raised slowly, the brief pause in conversation feeling like a thousand centuries. She actually wasn't freaking out. Maybe because it all made sense after all, maybe because she was still anaesthetised, maybe because it wasn't real, maybe because The Actual Devil was standing there looking like a frightened five year old and it caused her heart to clench. Chloe blinked. It can't be her imagination. It was her dream, or was it his?! If it was a dream, it was weird one. She spoke before she could think about it even more. "It's okay".

"It is?"

"Yes" she replied, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. The kiss that followed belied the rumbling desire between them, prompted by the make out session downstairs. "It makes sense to me at least". Chloe shivered. She couldn't explain it to him but it felt right that she was his on Earth or well, Hell."Will you take me downstairs?"

"That has potentially two meanings Detective" he replied, flipping back to the Devil she knew for a brief second. "Be very careful which one you mean".

"If I am their Queen, I want to see them. I want to walk through Hell". She heard him sigh. He ought to have known she would not be satisifed with the view from above and to his surprise, she had accepted Azrael rather well. "Please?"

Lucifer breathed carefully before he looked at her again across the tower room. "You want to, don't you?"

"I do" Chloe replied, deliberately stopping herself using her womanly wiles against him to try and persuade him. She knew she was being naive; no question about it, but she needed, wanted to know what was going on underneath them. It would help her understand, ease that anxiety of what he actually faced. "Please Lucifer" she repeated.

He took in a lungful of dusty air and silently cursed inside his head. "Very well, but..." he emphasised, a finger raised in the air, "you must follow me, stay with me, if I tell you to move, you move, if I tell you to stay, you stay. No deviations, no wandering off, no...no lip". He'd enjoyed what might be termed 'little discussions' when they were topside, but this was not the time nor the place for the Detective's stubbornness or backchat.

"Is it really that dangerous for me?" she asked. "If I am their Queen? Can they harm me?"

"I simply do not wish to take the risk, Detective", he replied, taking her hand and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "Some will welcome you, Virtue, Jane, Three, Five...they will be happy to have their stories recognised as true. There are other demons who may not be, may not believe, or simply be influenced by others into taking action that may cause instability again."

"Like Dromos?" she asked, seeing him flinch.

"Possibly", Lucifer replied. "If I had not personally incinerated him the moment I set foot here and Squee and a few others who I found were part of the rebellion".

"Oh" Chloe responded, eyes flashing to the floor. She had almost forgotten just how powerful he was and how vengeful he may have been all that time ago. Lucifer lifted her chin with his finger and she felt him press his lips to hers.

"You do understand why I am cautious?" he asked. She nodded. Of course she understood. "Come on then, come downstairs."

As soon as they made it downstairs, taking a more leisurely pace this time down the winding staircase, Lucifer picked up the heavily embroidered coat from the bed. He placed the coat over her shoulders, letting her slide her arms in before he did up the buttons. Finally he pulled the hood over her head. "Before you say it, Detective, yes it is necessary that I cover you as much as possible. You cannot walk around in that satin dress. Too much..." he swallowed as his eyes grazed over the thin spaghetti straps and the plunging neckline. "Far too much flesh for their eyes... You have not been here long and the demons will expect the tying of hands to occur quickly if you are seen in public. We must move swiftly". Chloe nodded. The urgency in his voice was clear and this time she decided to put the stubbornness in a box and let it rest for a while.

He straightened the hood and pulled her towards the door, unlocking it. The two demons, Three and Five jumped up the moment they appeared. "Stay there you two" Lucifer began, Chloe deliberately placed behind him hand clasped in his. "Let no-one near this room, understand?".

"My Lady, My Lord" The two responded, bowing.

Lucifer started walking at a pace, and whilst Chloe was not really struggling to keep up with him, she could do with him slowing down. All of a sudden, she stopped and yanked him back. "Can you at least show me my Queendom?"

"There no such word Detective, but,.." he looked around. All was quiet on this particular route he had taken. He could have gone past the other cells, where the constant low buzz of distress was part of the fabric of his surroundings. If there was a 'quiet way' that was the way he took her. "A brief tour, then" Lucifer offered. He slowed his pace but he was still moving down the corridors quickly. He stopped outside a door and Chloe wriggled free from his hand, peeking in through a narrow slat in the metal as curiosity got the better of her. A man sat on the floor of the cell. He was middle aged, round and stark naked and for a second Chloe wished she had not looked. It wasn't the lack of clothing that did it but Chloe recognised him from a memory long gone, long past to those days of even before Hot Tub High School graced the world's screens. Lucifer knew from the look on her face that she knew who he was. "Detective?"

"I know him. He raped my friend" she stated bluntly, an anger welling up inside her that she had not felt for years feeling for a handle on the door that was not there. Five minutes alone with him and that bastard would know Hell...

"I know" Lucifer replied peering over her shoulder. Chloe felt him placed his hands on her hips, drawn to her and unable to keep away. "I keep him naked, vulnerable, just like he made Sally feel and all those other girls too". He paused but he had to ask. "He never touched you, did he?" If he had, if he had laid a finger on his Detective, that chubby little fucker would get more than he bargained for. Even more than he bargained for.

"No, no not me. I'd just turned eighteen. I was legal and thus too old for him. Sally was 15 when it happened" Chloe replied, squinting at the man who was sitting on a bench, head in hands. "She played my little sister in a film we did. We were only it for a few scenes but she told me what happened. She wanted a part in his next big thing, even though the script was a shit-show and it was me who encouraged her to go to the police. Well I told my Dad and he did the rest and Dad got a Hollywood producer a twenty year sentence. Last rumour I heard was he got beaten to death in jail a few years ago because he messed with kids".

"He did", Lucifer replied. He remembered receiving the man in Hell in all its disgusting detail. The first thing the Devil did was throw him to the 'mercy' of a hell loop of walking naked through LA; interspersed with compulsive public jerking off that left him bleeding and skin raw but no release or pleasure of it. He might have been a sick man but the Devil could be sicker. "He doesn't have a hell loop anymore of any real substance" Lucifer continued. "I just send the female demons in every once in a while to laugh at his tiny cock while he sits in this cell. They don't know what they are laughing at but they make a good job of it".

"Oh" Chloe breathed. She had better ideas than that. They all involved a meat cleaver.

"You see this is why I do not want you here" Lucifer continued, resting his head on the side of hers underneath the hood. "You do not belong with the...people like him". The Devil was bad to the bone, the Detective wasn't. "Come on Detective. I will show you the throne room. If..."

"If?" she asked, spinning to him.

"If we were to engage in the joining of hands, it would be where it would take place". He dragged her away, Chloe's head swinging back as she tried to look again but he was too strong for her.

Almost running through the corridors Chloe was surprised she had not tripped over her dress yet. Somehow it was not getting covered in ash and her bare feet stayed clean. The floor felt as though one minute it was sloping and the next minute were climbing up and down as he swept around corners. "Lucifer! Wait!" Chloe said all of a sudden, digging her heels into the floor and pulling her hand hard from his. She was out of breath now and her heart was pounding out of her chest. Chloe stepped backwards into a convenient alcove to find something to rest on. "Slow down. I need to breathe", she said, leaning against the wall, desperately swallowing in air and feeling that nausea of over-exertion.

He stepped back and looked to her. "You didn't need to breathe going up those stairs..."

"I know" she replied, putting her hand on her chest, feeling her heart pumping away under her ribs. "But I do now". Lucifer stepped across and blocked her exit from the alcove, stepping forward and pulling her to him, hands around her waist. All of a sudden she started coughing, hand now moving to press to her throat. Chloe was actually starting to panic as her breathing increasing and she was clearly struggling. She flung the hood off her head, pulling some of the braids in her hair with it, needing air.

"You don't have any heart conditions do you Detective, breathing problems I don't know about?" he asked, really quite frightened now as her wide eyes held nothing but fear.

"Only a body" she started, swallowing, panting for air, "upstairs that is intubated but otherwise no". Another flash of panic ran through her. "Could they be...Do you think?...Could they be trying to wake me up?" She had been intubated before; she knew that horrible sensation in her throat as the tube was removed and it was just like now.

"I supposes it's possible". Lucifer was panicking himself now but all of a sudden, Chloe's eyes widened again and she drifted towards him, closing the gap even further and her forehead rested carefully on his chest. "Chloe?!"

She blinked. In one second her heart rate had returned to normal and her breathing eased; that soreness in her throat was gone. "I feel fine now", she stuttered, blinking away watery eyes.

"You do?" Lucifer asked, gaze wandering over her face as she nodded, straightening up again. "Sure?"

"Completely" she smiled, going to grab for his jaw as she pulled him down to kiss her, lips sweeping over his. She broke away just as quickly. "If they are trying to wake me up, like Rae Rae said, I'm not meant to be dead, which means... it means that I don't have long here or there before I wake up". She was pushed back against the wall even more now so they would certainly not be seen if someone casually walked by and his lips met hers again, drifting down her neck as she let out a long sigh. A scratch up the the other end of the corridor startled her.

"Can you run?" he asked, needing to get them out of the way as she replied in the positive. "Come on then" he said, pulling her back out of the alcove and towards the throne room that was only just around another corner.

Gently Lucifer pushed open the door, it opening to a vast high ceilinged room with dark panels over the walls. Directly in front of her was a vast throne, shining, gold and mesmerising; high backed and those velvet cushions... Before she could speak, Lucifer breathed heavily, an eerie feeling creeping up on him. "I don't like this..."

"What don't you like?" she asked cautiously as they took a few more paces inside the room, Chloe memorizing each panel on the walls, every decorative piece that sat on shelves and cupboards.

"I can..." he hesitated, a creeping feeling winding up his spine. "I think Rae Rae is back".

"She is" Chloe replied, feeling a presence behind them. Chloe had turned and she was facing his sister and there was a man with her too. They had clearly slipped into the room behind them. They were the stratch she heard and oh for... they had probably seen her pinned against the wall. What a way to be introduced to his family...

"Michael" Lucifer growled but Rae Rae stood between the brothers as the Devil, still clasping onto Chloe's hand, strode across to his brother, crowding his space. "How dare you even think to come to address me!"

"Brother" Michael started, "Father has sent me to return..." his eyes flickered when he saw Lucifer move backwards and Chloe felt him pull her as they backed up towards a cabinet on the wall.

She couldn't see what he was doing but it sounded like he opened up a drawer. Maybe he was after some kind of weapon, but Chloe felt something go tight around her right wrist. Not daring to look but it felt like a tie. A rope. Lucifer was frantically whispering something in a language she didn't understand before he reversed into English. "Try it brother. Just you try it". Lucifer raised their intertwined wrists so all it the room could see what he had been doing.

"Oh Luci, you didn't" Michael breathed in exasperation. He was so used to his brother's impetuous behaviour but this was the limit. Father would be furious. Even more so now. He was not sure how the Miracle Child would take it either.

"Luci didn't what?" Chloe asked, eyes flashing to Rae Rae who, if she was human, would be white as a sheet. She could see their hands even more now. A red and green thick twisted rope with gold inlay lay around their wrists in a figure of eight. Two weighted red and gold tassels hung between their hands. It must have been what he got out of the drawer. "We got Hell-married?" Chloe stuttered, staring at the rope that joined them.

"We did, Detective, you will have to excuse the speed and the issue of proper consent but it was a necessity", Lucifer responded. "Necessary in the light of recent developments". His voice was tight and he was staring at his brother.

"Erm..." Chloe replied, her brain still whirring. "You are excused, husband, I think". He did tell me it was simple and no fuss...He can marry himself?! Well I suppose if you are the Devil you can do anything you like. Mind you, this can't be real so, so what if she was the Devil's wife in her head? So what if it made no sense at all?

She saw Lucifer smile but it was insidious. It was a smile she had seen before; that one before he was about to invade the mind of a suspect. "So brother, you really made a mistake this time. So what do we tell Daddy Dearest?" he started to prowl and Chloe had no choice but to go with him. He was like a slick black panther circling its prey. Rae Rae looked unperturbed as she knew it was not her; but she knew what was about to unfold so she raised her hands. The Miracle child was in Hell, married to the Devil and it was Michael who set the wheels in motion. Lucifer could not imagine this was Father's plan for his creation for it to happen this way. The Devil was by no means redeemed quite yet and oh, boy he was going to enjoy this. Finally, something to amuse him.

"Brothers please!" Rae shouted, knowing what was about to happen.

"No Rae", Lucifer responded still stalking around. His eyes were redder than Chloe had ever seen. "What do you think you were doing, brother dear? Thought you could get one up on me again? Taking something I wanted? Taking the Detective before her time, like some prize?!" Lucifer licked his lips.

Michael's head was bowed but it snapped up. "Yes, Samael. Do you not think I would take great joy in seeing you tormented forever? Tormented that the one thing that makes you weak, makes you vulnerable was so far out of reach you could never have her?" Chloe saw Lucifer's shoulders tighten and he felt as though he was about to explode, feeling his skin start with that tingle that meant he was forming into his full self. "Except she, that creature, your prize from Father, fought me." Michael concluded with barely disguised temper as he threw a glance at Chloe who was just glaring at him.

Lucifer smiled again. Sinister, dangerous, menacing. "Well one supposes you failed brother" his head spun around. "Did you not think Father might just be a little concerned you interfered, took her before her time just for your own petty feud? You are not the soul collector..."

Michael stepped forward. "It would have been worth father's wrath to see you on your knees, brother. On. Your. Knees!"

"Chloe, go with Rae" Lucifer said suddenly as the atmosphere in room turned heavy and darker than before. His grip on her was painful now and she could see the redness of his skin on the back of his hand, creeping up the back of his neck just like before. She wasn't afraid.

"What?" she replied, too busy concentrating on his form.

"Go with Rae. Please". Lucifer turned to face her fully, eyes still a blazing red as his skin started to sizzle. His jaw was fixed but his voice was tender. "Please, go with Rae, go back to the other room and wait for me". With claws instead of fingertips, he unwound the rope from around his own wrist, leaving it on hers, and leant down to her ear. "Please" he emphasised, breath incredibly warm to the point of uncomfortable for her. "Go and rest, and your husband will be with you soon".

Chloe swallowed and nodded as he raised her hand to kiss her knuckles. "Go".

She glanced between the two brothers and Azrael pulled her away.

"Chloe! Come on!" Rae shouted, as she flew around corners and up and down stairs back to the tower room. Nothing must happen to the missing soul; absolutely nothing. The consequences of which were so extraordinary that even Rae felt rather agitated to find the room and make sure the mortal was safe. She was used to her brother's fights; addressing them with little more than a roll of the eyes or a shrug of the shoulders, but this was different this time.

The Detective however was, well she was not exactly dawdling, but she was not sprinting either looking back to the throne room, frightened at what her imagination thought she might be missing. "Azrael?" Chloe asked, deliberately stopping so his sister had to walk back to her. "Should we not stay with them? Or at least stay near?" she asked, thinking perhaps foolishly that they might be able to intervene.

"This is their business Chloe" Rae Rae warned; her voice stern as she watched the other woman hanging back, looking back. "It is not for me nor you to interfere. Their...relationship...it goes far too back into the past for us to even think that action from us might resolve it".

"I know that" Chloe replied, turning around to face his sister again, "but what if they hurt each other. Can they kill each other?" She had seen enough of Lucifer with suspects to know that she had only seen a sample of his power and she could well believe, well she knew, he could torture, so why not kill?

"Samael, in this his domain, he is unbeatable" Rae advised her, walking closer. If she had to drag her back to safety, she would. "This...this place, it is his. This place only breathes under his command. If he told it to stop, it would. Michael will...well he will regret his interference", the angel responded. She knew full well how this would no unfold and it was not for her Father's Miracle to witness.

Chloe sighed. "They are your brothers!" she exclaimed. She had no siblings, but if she did have a brother but she could never imagine being so distanced. "Azrael", Chloe continued. "I can't just leave them. I can't just leave Lucifer". She knew he had told her to go and, deep down she knew perfectly well why but if nothing else, everyone knew how stubborn she could be and she was never the one to shirk a challenge or put other people before her.

"No, Chloe, come on!" Rae saw her hesitate. "Chloe come in, please!" she continued. "Whatever they do, it is far more important that I keep you safe!"

The Detective felt Azrael take her wrist and pull her forward. Rae Rae, in her desperation, chanelled a little of her sheer physical strength and Chloe found herself unable to resist as she was overpowered by the angel and pulled away from the corner where she was lingering in two minds, resisting just running back or doing what Lucifer - her husband - wished her to. The strength of the grip on her wrist was too much though and Chloe felt herself propelled towards Azrael and even further away from her love.

Three and Five jumped up as they saw Azrael and Chloe run up the long corridor that led to the tower room. They never knew what to make of Lucifer's siblings but fell to their knees in deference to their Mistress. It was probably the best thing to do in the circumstances. "Three, Five", Chloe started, slightly out of breath again at the exertion of the run. "Please do get up. You do not have to bow to me".

The two regarded with her suspicious eyes. "You are our Queen, M'lady" Five started as they both got up. "Therefore we bow. We respect you M'Lady so we bow".

Chloe smiled at the beings in front of her, ignoring Azrael floating in the outer edges of her field of vision, getting increasingly agitated. "Please stand though" Chloe's voice was kind and the two demons straightened up properly, any wariness of the angel reassured that their mistress would protect them. Chloe spun around to face his sister. "Thank you Rae I can manage from here". Somehow Lucifer had slipped the key to the room into a pocket in the coat and she had found the metal between her fingers long ago.

"I will stay until the door is locked," Azrael replied, determined she would do her duty. She was not being cast in the same mould as Michael when it came to the safety of her Father's Miracle. She was going to do all she could to prevent His wrath. Chloe sighed, feeling a little bit imprisoned, but realising she had no choice. Lucifer's words spun in her head, his hesitance at her being here, refusing to take her on a tour of Hell like she wanted; she had to accept she had no choice.

Away in the throne room the brothers were circling each other; a thickness in the air that clasped at Lucifer's burning skin as he moved. The second Chloe had left and Lucifer had been assured she was away from that place, his skin had transformed to its full form. His leathery wings flapped with an intensity as he stepped around his brother, his insides aflame, temper licking up from his middle but his brother's face was just blank. Michael had not spoken, standing firm as he watched his brother's eyes aflame. His contempt for Samael had not altered in all these millennia. The fact Father had created a Queen for this irritation of a sibling and the fact that this 'Queen' was a mortal human just about topped it all. Why should Samael, of all of his siblings, be the one that Father created a mate for? He had heard rumours, untruths about Chloe Decker and when he had finally met her, taken her from her bed, extracted her soul whilst it was teetering on the edge of death. That part was surprisingly easy. Temptation was an intense emotion to feel and it had got the better of him. He was more like his twin than he thought.

"Why did you take her?" Lucifer spat through gritted teeth. His sudden question caused Michael's head to pop up. "Why did you remove her soul? No, why did you steal her soul?"

Michael laughed and folded his arms. "Why do you think?!" he challenged.

"Oh, dear brother, I have a thousand ideas why you may have done it but I would just like to know yours...specifically..." Lucifer replied barely able to keep his voice level.

Michael straightened up, letting his white wings fly from his back and the noise caused Lucifer to start. "Dear, dear brother" Michael started, shoulders back and looking smug, "to take her from you of course"

Lucifer squinted at him. "To take from me? I know that already you simpleton. To what? Make sure she could never see me again or me her? I know that too". Lucifer stepped forward, licking his lips. "What made you think that Father or even Azrael would not notice there was a spare soul in that place?" He was not going to use the word 'heaven'.

"Heaven is a huge place as you well know, Samael", Michael replied. "So many places to keep things you wish to hide for a while". The use of the word 'thing' when it came to the Detective and that was the Devil's last straw.

"She has a name. Her name is Chloe Jane Decker", Lucifer enunciated, each word sliding venomously from his lips his hands itching to go around his brother's throat, but something deep inside was stopping him. "She is not a thing to be taken as and when you wish".

"So sorry" Michael responded in the most insincere way possible. "Chloe Jane Decker, then. The Detective. The precious little angel that's taken you what? Five earth years and you haven't even managed to..." His laugh was mocking.

His words were cut off when Lucifer roared; a deep, guttural cry of anger and pain rolled into one. The fury was overwhelming and he stepped closer to his brother, in his face, breath like a furnace on Michael's skin. "Do you know something, brother?!"

"What?" Michael laughed again waiting for that first connection of his brother's fist, anticipating the violence that would undoubtedly follow when they were left to their own devices. This contempt they seemed to have for each other was overwhelming and even with millenia of absence, it had not dimmed in its intensity. He was perturbed however when Lucifer stepped back, that heat that eminated from the Devil's full form shifting away and with it, it chipped away at the tension that had arisen between them.

"Five years ago" Lucifer began, rubbing his clawed hands together, intertwining his fingers as he thought, "even two years ago I might have ripped each limb from your body, torn you to pieces and fuck Father and his pontificating. Father can do nothing more to hurt me any more. I would have burned in hell for millennia more to see you dead, but now?" Lucifer let out a short huff of a laugh and stood back even more. "Now, well, you find a brother who has...he has ..." Lucifer frowned. He wanted to say the word 'changed' but he hesitated. "You have a brother who will not demean himself. Get out". The last words were spoken so quietly Michael barely heard them as the Devil stalked away to the other side of the room.

"Samael?" Michael questioned, watching his brother, watching his wings as they slowly moved and hid away again.

"Get out!" Lucifer whispered again.

Michael stepped forward. "Brother?" His voice was curious this time, almost interested in this change in his sibling. In truth Michael had expected Samael to fight tooth and nail and how he would enjoy it after all this time but this change, if anything, it unnerved him. "Father...I wish to correct my error...Father, he may not necessarily know what I did".

Lucifer shook his head. "The Detective is not an error..." He still refused to look at his sibling.

"Me taking her soul when it was not ready was an error" Michael began. It was his sister's fury that caused him to rethink, but the change in his brother was unnerving. "It has been millennia since we last met Samael and the temptation was too much; too much to try to provoke you".

"So you wanted another fight?" Lucifer asked. "Wanted to undo my work? Wanted to condemn me even further?" The devil spun around, his skin restored to its more human form. Lucifer squinted, seeing a look cross his siblings face that he had not seen for a very long time. His heart jumped. "You just wish to make me angry, you just wish to make me what? Sad? Unhappy?!" Michael did not react. "Well, well done brother, because you have given me a glimpse of what I could have with her so well done, you succeeded. What ever happened with you taking her, her falling from your grip you still succeeded. Well done".

"I did not mean her to fall" Michael replied. "Genuinely brother. She...she...interfered".

"Yes well" Lucifer responded tersely. "One thing you don't do is tell Chloe what to do or force her into anything. Just leave or I will physically kick you back up to dear old Dad and tell him precisely what you have done. It is of no consequence to me what he does to you. He can consider what he wants to do with your little 'error' because I have no time for it. She is my wife. She is tied to me now and I will return to her". A minute or so later Lucifer watched his brother soar into the sky, his only concern now was getting back to Chloe. Rae Rae would look after her, of course she would.

"Three! Five!" Lucifer roared, striding up the corridor to the room in a desperate journey back to his centre. "Where is your Queen?"

"My Lord", Three responded as the pair jumped up at his command, scrabbling against the ash. "She there" he continued, gesturing back to the tower room with a webbed thumb. "Our Queen locked the room behind her. We heard her and your sister stayed until our Mistress was safe".

"Good", Lucifer breathed, still not truly feeling any relief. That would happen when he saw her and could hold her. "No other visitors?" he asked, towering over the demons.

Five shook his head. "The other being left my Lord. We saw her leave and no-one has been near. Mistress has not exited the room either my Lord".

Lucifer nodded his thanks. He did not need the key he had put in her pocket and a second later the lock popped under his command as the two demons stepped aside. He walked in and shut the door behind him before he leant on the door handle, closing his eyes and breathing heavily to calm himself and his hammering heart down. He rested the back of his head on the closed door, feeling the cool surface try to soothe his skin. "Bastard family" he muttered under his breath. "Interfering..." Lucifer stopped before he could run away with his thoughts. The room was far too quiet and his eyes fluttered open again. "Detective?"

The coat was on the bed, but she had probably just taken it off. It looked like it had just been thrown down and the rope that had joined them in 'matrimony' was lying next to it. Lucifer smiled. "The little Devil's probably hiding from me..." he whispered, wondering where his wife was waiting for him. He strode over to the bathroom with a smile on his face. How...lovely...it would be to find her swimming neck deep in the water patient for him, except as he pushed open that door, the room was empty and the bath dry. All the little pots of moisturisers and potions were piled neatly in the basket he had conjured up just as she had left them too. Lucifer made a little noise of discontent and turned away.

Moving swiftly back across the room he started up the staircase to the tower. He'd find her there. She seemed to like it; looking out over Hell. He shot up the stairs, taking them three at a time, eventually swinging open the door at the top. Panic hit him immediately as the room was quiet and just as desolate as it usually was before she had graced it with her presence. There was nowhere to hide up here, literally nowhere to put yourself. Lucifer's eyes scanned every inch of that circular room until his eyes drifted to the floor and he did not want to believe what he was seeing. If this was a dream, a fantasy of either hers or his, it was swiftly turning into a nightmare.

In the middle of the floor, in a silken heap, was her dress.

Lucifer hesitated before he stepped forward, his heart and stomach dropping. He picked up the silk but it held no warmth of her body as though it had been removed from her for some time. He spun on his heels around the room, just on the off chance she had found a small corner to hide in but the room was circular, round. It had no nooks or crannies and the room downstairs had been locked. He had felt it give when he walked in. He ran over to the window and leant out. Could she have fallen, maybe? No - utterly impossible to even contemplate. Three and Five would have seen her fall from where he had stationed them. If they weren't slacking that was but...no. He leant further out of the window. No, nothing. Not a sign.

He stepped away, shoulders dropping as his body became weighted down with sorrow and fear for her. She was gone. He was sure of it and he may never be able to find her now if she had been taken. Balling the dress up in his hands, Lucifer dropped to his knees and for the first time in his long life, sobbed for everything he had lost.

For Chloe, as she saw this unfold, she panicked. The constriction in her throat and chest was immense as she fought against whatever it was that was holding her down, fighting to be able to breathe, fighting to be back with the Devil.

She lashed out at the hands that were holding her legs, her wrists and screamed with every last ounce of energy she had left in her body.

All of a sudden Chloe's eyes flew open and the bright white light surrounding her almost engulfed her in its presence and, with panic rising from deep inside her middle, she fought again, kicking, muscles straining against her bounds and gasping for air before she heard a man's calm voice.

Her eyes hurt; the pain, a stabbing sensation as it hacked away at her. The light wherever she was was so bright that she could barely keep them open as it glowed down on her.

She could feel her heart racing out of her chest; confused, disorientated and downright scared. Where was she?

"Chloe?" The voice again but this time it was rather more urgent. "Chloe? It's okay, you're safe". It was almost as though she could not understand the words that were floating through to her in the molasses of her mind. She felt something touch her right hand, someone squeezing it tight but no sound was coming from her mouth as she tried to speak, almost choking with the need to say something, anything. "It's alright, I promise you are safe". The male voice was more familiar this time as a blurred face loomed into view and she was able to focus on the sound, the look. Dark hair, blue eyes and a smile she recognised; a relieved smile that was as he looked over her.

Chloe swallowed. Her mouth was dry and her chest felt as though someone had stamped repeatedly on it; taken sandpaper to her throat. She took several very deep breaths, needing to gain some control. The face came better into clarity as her eyes watered against the gritty desert they had become.

"Dan?" she croaked, trying to programme her fingers into squeezing back. Was that him? Dan? Was that you?

"Hi" Dan replied softly, keeping tight hold of her hand. She could hear the strength of the relief in his voice. "Don't try to move, Chlo. Do you want water?"

Chloe nodded frantically and a straw met her lips. They both heard a door open as she drank down the cool liquid, feeling it soothe her throat. It was nothing like that clean, clear water she drank in Hell but it was water none the less and it served its purpose. As she watched Dan put the cup down, she licked her lips. Hell. She had been in Hell, or had she? The taste of that water; she could still feel it but was it real? Chloe moaned in pain and exhaustion and his concerned gaze shot back to her face.

She'd woken up, in hospital and a dull pain in her left leg began to focus her. Of course she hadn't been in Hell. It was just a trippy dream and the cavernous sensation in her middle, it was...devastating. Lucifer was still gone, just as he had been before, long before and she would never see him again, not in the flesh, not to touch, not to hold... It was a dream then, some kind of anaesthetic induced fantasy and her heart sunk. A door to her left opened, staff summoned by Dan who unbeknownst to her had pressed the call bell the moment she started to wake. Practicalities hit.

"Ah" another voice came. "You are back with us at last Miss Decker", the doctor smiled. Chloe turned away from Dan to see a doctor walk in. "You gave us rather a scare there", he said.

"I did?" she asking, gesturing for Dan to help her sit up, dragging her stiff and sore leg with her.

"Hmmmm" the doctor replied, nodding his head. "It took us rather a while to wake you up from the anaesthetic there my dear. A bit of a false start but as you are with us now let me get one of the nurses to take some vitals and we can talk more". He patted her arm and walked away.

Chloe just nodded dumbly. Those times when she had been out of breath as she ran through the corridors of Hell with him and with Rae Rae; she had been right. That moment he had pushed her against the wall and she could barely speak. They had been trying to wake her body up. "What did he mean?" she asked, her whole body at war with the vivid memories she had. She focussed on his face in some desperate attempt to centre herself. Had Dan been crying? He looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"They tried to wake you up when you came out of surgery but you wouldn't breathe on your own. When they tried a second time the nurses had to hold you down you fought them that much", he concluded with a pained smile. He had witnessed that second time and it would be imprinted in his mind for years to come as she kicked and fought, and had to be restrained.

So there it is, she thought. In the run to the throne room and the second time, so, so out of breath as she ran up the tower steps to look over his kingdom once she had escaped Azrael's clutches. She had barely made it up the steps when she staggered into the room, gasping as she fell to her knees as she felt her entire body - no what must have been her soul - lift into the light. "Do you want some more water before they come back?" Dan asked, snapping her out of her melancholy again.

"No" she responded, shaking her head. "Thanks Dan, no. Is Trix okay?"

He nodded. "Maze has her. We tried...we tried to keep as much as we could from her, but she's not stupid. Ella's been, Maze, Linda and your Mom". Chloe nodded, surprised at the last one but there you go.

"Did...did anyone else visit?" she asked, hoping against some vain hope that somehow Lucifer might know, somehow he might just have...Chloe stopped herself. Maybe she had met Michael, maybe she had met Azrael, if she had been that close to well, you know. Maybe they had told him. Maybe just maybe he had...It was silly, but she just missed him so much. Dan shaking his head broke her train of painful thought before were interrupted by two nurses walking in and any more conversation had to wait. Chloe submitted herself to their care still hanging on tight to Dan like it was still a decade ago, but he did not let go either.

Chloe's eyes were slowly closing. It was near on 9pm now and with everything that had gone on today she was exhausted and alone in all senses of the word. The room was silent now, the sky outside a rich shade of navy as another day she could not get back closed behind her. Carefully she rubbed her face, pressing her eyes closed and second by second sleep finally took her under. It did not however last particularly long.

Somewhere in some place deep inside her own mind, Chloe walked in darkness, not seeing, not hearing but feeling as though she was being watched from every angle. The ash under her bare feet she could feel as it crunched and broke but the places she walked were silent of noise. It wasn't unnerving; in fact it felt rather safe, familiar, comfortable. Running her fingertips along the wall, dust and ash blackened her skin until she hesitated by a corner. She could hear someone talking; talking with such a speed that the words were a jumble. It sound manic, distressed, angry and as she rounded towards the noise she could see his frame, tall, broad, red, angry leather like wings protruding from his back. Chloe smiled, not feeling a scrap of fear or trepidation at his full form. It was not unlike the other dreams that she had had of him before; ones where he was just out of reach; just out of touching distance. Sometimes he would appear to her as the bouncy, smiley, happy Lucifer who would deliver her coffee and the other form –his devil form- who would set her on fire inside just as much.

"Lucifer?" she asked, seeing the figure spin around as she walked, fingertips still running along the wall. She took another step forward, barely a foot away from him. "Lucifer?" It was only these past days that her dreams, however they came about, had let her reach forward and touch him like it was a reality. He stretched out a clawed hand towards her, grabbing hold and she was pulling him towards her before Chloe felt a shake of her shoulders.

"Miss Decker?!"

Chloe focused to see a young nurse, leaning over her and smiling. "You were restless when I came into to check on you" she offered. "Would you like something to help you sleep?"

Her patient shook her head. "No, thank you, but no".

The nurse did what she needed to do and Chloe settled again, turning her head towards the window and watching the stars. "You created those didn't you?" she asked the imaginary figure in her head. "All of those beautiful stars they are yours. They are all yours and all I can do is watch them and wonder..." A tear or two slipped down and dissolved into the pillow on which she was resting her head. "You probably can't hear me" she continued, swallowing nervously, "but I do love you, please don't ever forget that".

She turned on her side, wincing a little at the pain in her leg, another tear sliding over the bridge of her nose, tickling her before it fell to its fate. Closing her eyes again, Chloe breathed in and out trying to lull herself back to sleep. Again she might have succeeded for a while but again there was that feeling she was being watched.

A noise outside the room, perhaps a door slamming shut, jolted her out of the sensation, moving restless again. Then she saw him. Lucifer. Lucifer bloody Morningstar sitting in the seat that Dan had left not so many hours ago. He wasn't smiling, or talking or anything - just looking at her like she was the most precious diamond in existence, his head leaning to one side, studying her form as she lay there. Chloe shifted in bed again, a stab of pain going through her thigh. Taking as many deep breaths that she could muster up, she shook her head. "No, not again. Please don't tell me I'm dreaming or I'm hallucinating or that you are." She couldn't take that any more. "Not again, I can't..." He got up and her heart started racing out of what? Fear? Anxiety?

He reached forward and her eyes tracked the movement as she felt him take her hand, pressing his lips to her skin once, twice, a third time before he placed it gently back on the bed. "Lucifer?" The sensation was so real and she wanted to scream. "Please..." she begged as her own mind tortured her. The feeling of the bed dipping as he sat down was so real too.

"Detective?" he offered, his voice just as deep, just as comforting, just as British as it had ever been; clear as day like he was sitting barely a foot away from her.

Chloe sniffled. "I'm dreaming". It was almost as though it was she was trying to remind herself before it killed her. "I always was". The vision before her, leaning to her, shook its head and smiled at her. Smiled at her; and she saw his hand twitch to reach for her again.

"I don't think so, Chloe" he offered simply.

"What?" she asked, worried, confused and every other negative adjective you could think of. Stop torturing me, please, please, please stop it.

Smiling again, from the inside of his black jacket Lucifer produced the red, green and gold rope that once adorned their wrists, wrapping it again in figure of eight around her and him, repeating the short prayer he had whispered in her mind. Chloe gasped. Her Hell-Wedding. She raised her eyes from the rope to him. It felt so real. It was so real.

"I don't think we ever dreamt it my darling. I don't think we ever did".

FIN


End file.
